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November 3, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Cabinet clears National Textile
Policy Reduce digital gap: Paswan Hyundai Engineering reviews rescue steps VSNL for curbing irregularities IIIT at Narnaul Exit clause for
VC funds scrapped Germany to ease
visa laws for IT Indians |
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Is it the
future of shopping? Pak bar on fashion shows
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Cabinet clears National Textile
Policy NEW DELHI, Nov 2 — The government today cleared the National Textile Policy, 2000 to keep up with the increased competition in the new century. It aims at achieving textiles and apparel exports of upto $ 50 billion by 2010 from the present $ 11 billion. It also dereserved the garments sector and lifted foreign direct investment cap of 24 per cent. Textile Minister Kashiram Rana said the new policy replaces the 1985 textile policy and lists several measures to strengthen the handloom sector. Two recommendations of the Satyam Committee to abolish the Handloom Reservation Act and remove the Hank Yarn obligation has not been accepted. He said the entire duty structure would now be reviewed to promote the industry and the new year’s Budget was expected to reflect the new duty structure which would be growth oriented. The new policy takes note of the new challenges and opportunities presented by the changing global environment, particularly the initiation of the process of gradual phasing out of quantitative restrictions on imports and the lowering of tariff levels for an integration of the world textile and clothing markets by end 2004. Mr Rana said it would be the policy of the government to develop a strong and vibrant industry that can produce cloth of good quality at acceptable prices to meet the growing needs of the people; increasingly contribute to the provision of sustainable employment and the economic growth of the nation; and compete with confidence for an increasing share of the global market. The thrust area of the new policy among other things is on technological upgradation, enhancement of productivity quality consciousness and strengthening of the raw material base. The Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) covering all manufacturing segments of the industry would implemented more aggresively and efforts would be made to achieve increase in cotton productivity by at least 50 per cent and upgrade its quality to international standards, through effective implementation of the Technology Mission on cotton. The Minister said the new policy would upgrade the raw materials available for the sector and the thrust will be on improving the availability productivity and quality of raw materials at reasonable prices for the industry. On cotton, the primary aim will be to improve production, productivity and quality, and stabilise prices. The Technology Mission on Cotton will be the instrument for achieving these parameters. Ministry of Textiles, Ministry of Agriculture, cotton growing states, farmers and industry associations will be actively involved in the implementation of this Mission. Similar incentives have been announced for man-made fibre, silk, wool, and jute. In a bid to phase out the problem of over-capacity and obsolete spindleage, the new policy would make efforts to modernise and upgrade technology to international levels. The looms, which have a share of 50 per cent in the global market, would also be rapidly modernised. Mr Rana said efforts will be made to restore the organised mill industry to its position of pre-eminence to meet international demand for high value, large volume products. The earlier policy of not taking over/nationalising sick units will be continued. As regards the unviable Public Sector Undertakings such as National Textile Corporation and National Jute Manufacture Corporation, various options for strategic partnerships or privatisation will be explored. Non-viable mills will be closed down with provision for an adequate safety-net for the workers and employees. Mr Rana said the government will continue to accord priority to the handloom sector and steps would be taken to promote and develop its exclusiveness for the global market. While machine-made carpet manufacturing in the mill sector will be guided by the policy framework for the organised industry, the policy for hand knotted carpet sector will focus on sustained growth of exports and welfare of weavers and their children. The made-ups sector will be given the status and importance it deserves by virtue of occupying the highest position in the textile value addition chain alongside garments. Improvements would be carried out on the production side which is the weakest link in the textile production chain, and results in loss of potential value. Considering the growing prospects for technical textiles worldwide, priority will be accorded for their growth and development. The focus will be on R&D efforts and augmentation of raw material production. Standards will be set to facilitate adherence to stringent functional requirements. In a bid to increase exports, the new policy’s thrust would be on establishing a multi-disciplinary institutional mechanism to formulate policy measures and specific action plans, including those relating to the WTO. Other
thrust areas include focus on Information Technology, and Human Resource Development. Mr Rana said the organisations working under the Ministry of Textiles will be re-oriented, rightsized and restructured to act as facilitators instead of regulatory bodies, with the mandate and role of each being reviewed and redefined over the next two years. Simultaneously, regulations and controls will be reviewed and progressively reduced.
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Reduce digital
gap: Paswan NEW DELHI, Nov 2 — The Minister of Communications, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan has called upon the countries of the Asia Pacific region to reduce the “digital divide” by developing cost effective technologies suited to their local conditions. An effective system should be evolved for this purpose The 3-day summit has been organised by the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT). Inviting them to share India’s experience in the telecom sector, he said greater cooperation, among the various members of the globe which is one family now, is the key to their strength and growth. Emphasising the need for achieving universal access to The countries of the Asia Pacific region must collaborate in developing application of ICT and IT- enabled services for creating greater employment and growth. “We have to build up human resources to enhance IT capability and develop centres of excellence with inter-connectivity among the countries in the region” he added. In this context, he pointed out that the introduction of IT and allied education in schools in a big way will help build up human resources and skills. Referring to the convergence of technology, he said the promotion of broad -band and multimedia network should be encouraged in the member countries of APT for promoting distance education, distance medicine, e-commerce and e-governance. Several states in India have already taken measures to introduce e-governance and facilities for delivery of services like tele-medicine and tele-education etc. Besides, a large number of call centres are coming up all over the country, providing variety of services. Stating that it is difficult to control content on the Net, he said steps must be taken to discourage harmful content.
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Hyundai Engineering reviews rescue steps SEOUL, Nov 2 (Reuters) — South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering and Construction, which narrowly avoided insolvency on Tuesday, said yesterday it was reviewing a rescue plan to cut another 500 billion won ($ 438 million) from its 5.4 trillion won of debts. But analysts said the ailing construction company must not only implement the pledges it has already made but do much more. Company spokesman Chung Keun-Young said about one-third of Hyundai’s fund-raising obligation had been raised and the company would finalise a new plan after Chung Mong-hun, former Hyundai Group Chairman, returns at the weekend from an overseas trip. “Owner Chung Mong-Hun will be asked to invest his personal money, among others,’’ Chung said. “In addition, we will try to sell reclaimed land in the western coastal area. Chung Mong-hun is the largest single shareholder of Hyundai Engineering with 7.8 per cent, the company said. In October, the ailing construction firm, South Korea’s biggest contractor, promised to carry out rigorous reforms including firing a quarter of its executives and raising 1.6 trillion won this year to reduce debt loads. Analysts said Hyundai Engineering was not doing enough to regain market confidence. “What Hyundai needs is not more new plans, but the will to execute what it has already promised to do,’’ said Bill Hunsaker, head of research at
ING Baring Securities. “Selling assets to unknown buyers these days is unlikely to happen,’’ said Richard Samuelson, head of research at
UBS Warburg in Seoul. “The construction market is now overmanned. If Hyundai is not forced to exit the market, then others have to exit.’’ The Korea Exchange Bank, the main creditor of Hyundai Engineering, said creditors would meet on Thursday or Friday to discuss the fate of the firm. Hyundai spokesman Chung said his firm would have no problems honouring payment obligations coming due through this week. “Our main hurdle this week is some $ 80 million worth of bonds with warrants (BWS) maturing on Friday,’’ spokesman Chung said. “We are talking closely with creditors on the
BW payments and we are confident of honouring our obligations even if holders of all the
BWS wanted settlements.’’ A KEB spokesman declined to comment. Local media have said creditors threatened to put the company under court receivership or a debt workout scheme because it has made little progress on implementing its reform promises. As another option, the lenders were considering a debt-to-equity swap, and a management takover, media reported. On Tuesday, Hyundai Engineering avoided insolvency after creditors decided to roll over 30 billion won in maturing debts. Hyundai also settled late on Tuesday 22.4 billion won, which was originally due on Monday. Under Korean law, a company is considered insolvent if it defaults on loan payments for two successive days. Hyundai Engineering’s shares, whose trading resumed from the morning session after a day of suspension on Tuesday, fell 205 won to close at 1,175. Korea Exchange Bank, whose loans to Hyundai Engineering are estimated at 700 billion won, fell 30 won to 1,440 won. Meanwhile, President Kim Dae-jung reaffirmed the government’s commitment to corporate and financial restructuring on Wednesday in a meeting with government ministers and foreign executives. “For sure the government will finish the scheduled reforms, some of them by year-end, the rest by February,’’ Kim said. “I will get it done.’’
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VSNL for curbing irregularities NEW DELHI, Nov 2 (UNI) — The Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) is busy streamlining any detected irregularities in its functioning, a top company official said. The official said the process is part of the cleaning up operations, in the changed economic environment characterised by deregulation and de-control, by arresting corruption and issuing guidelines to its workforce. The guidelines issued last night said no authority should exercise powers of sanctioning expenditure through an order which will directly or indirectly be to its own advantage. “Always offer bid documents to parties capable of carrying on the job in time with quality and make payments in accordance with contract provisions,” it said. Competitive tendering should be adopted wherever possible, all transactions accurately recorded and detected irregularities must be reported. “Be prompt in refunding security deposit, earnest money deposit (EMD) to unsuccessful tenderers. The personal claims preferred by the employees should be examined very closely and any point of culpable doubt should be reported to the vigilance department,” it added. The vigilance wing of VSNL has taken this initiative to fulfil the goal of the Central Vigilance Commission to strengthen preventive vigilance measures. In a commercial organisation like VSNL, entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring uninterrupted telephony and other value added services, it might not be always possible to keep detailed record of all actions and even some deviations from the laid down procedure might have to be made occasionally. The guidelines say “whenever you are departing from the exisiting instructions or taking recourse to emergency measures or situations, record as soon as possible, the nature of emergency.” The guidelines further said there should be intensive monitoring of delays and disposal of files of the departments to curb corruption. Interestingly, liberalisation and corruption, the guideline says, go together, as prevalent in third world countries. To ensure speedy decision-making in the new environment, specific suggestions for liberalisation of cumbersome rules and procedures must be made. |
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NARNAUL , Nov 2 (UNI) — An Innovative Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) has been inaugurated here, making it one of the few centres for imparting medical transcription (MY) training to students of remote districts of Haryana. Mt is a rapidly growing service sector in India, with the country holding only 4.34 per cent of the total business from the
USA. The sector, growing at the rate of 158 per cent in South East Asia, has a tremendous scope in India with its English understanding and speaking population, apart from lower manpower costs. Mahendragarh Deputy Commissioner V. Raja Sekhar, after inaugurating the institute, said an awareness campaign launched under the it policy of the Haryana Government and district administration by way of cyber cafes had prompted the people of the district to go for computer and it-related courses and that they would surely benefit from the it revolution. The district it Task Force has already taken up with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited regarding the provision of
ISDT lines in Narnaul. The institute provides 6-month training involving 120 hours of transcription practice and 120 hours of theory classes. It is estimated that out of total global
MT business of about $ 6 billion, India’s share is expected to rise from just Rs 750 million in 1997-98 to a staggering Rs 90 billion by 2007-08. |
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Exit clause for
VC funds scrapped NEW DELHI, Nov 2 — The Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, today announced the scrapping of the domestic venture capitalist exit clause introduced about a month back by SEBI. “Venture capitalists can now decide on when they want to exit from the invested companies and still get the tax benefits,” Mr Sinha said addressing the Indus Entrepreneurs conference here today. The domestic venture capitalists would now get a level-playing field with the government deciding to scrap the clause controlling the exit of VC fund from the invested companies, IT industry experts said. The NASSCOM President, Mr Dewang Mehta, said “this measure of the government provides a level-playing field for domestic VCs as no such restrictions are imposed on others.” Recently, SEBI also imposed two exit clauses for VC funds operating in the country that — they could not exit before one year in unlisted companies and they must exit within one year of post IPO. The government, Mr Sinha said, would maintain a strict vigil on the misuse of the incentive and would take action if there is any misuse. The Finance Minister, however, said “we should get out of the mentality of sops in the form of interest rate or other ones and if we increase our productivity this will not be necessary.” Mr Mehta, said the existing SEBI guidelines, which insists that VCs have to exit within one year of an entrepreneur going public was detrimental as they would refrain domestic VCs investments. The option should be left to the VCs and the entrepreneurs, because the exit of VCs should not affect the share price of that particular company. The NASSCOM President said “no other entity, be it an individual or a body corporate is subjected to such restriction regarding the exit, why then a VC fund should have such restriction.” All Indian venture-based IPOs are earning a 44.6 per cent returns over a typical five-year holding period after listing, as compared to a 22.5 per cent return by the non-venture backed IPOs. |
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Germany to ease visa laws for IT Indians NEW DELHI, Nov 2 (UNI) — Germany is easing up visa laws to pave way for the inflow of information technology professionals from abroad, Head of the State of Bavaria (HSB) Erwin Huber said today. “It is very difficult to engage in international worksharing with India due to the visa laws. Unlike the USA, provision of HSB facility laws are stricter in Germany. However the laws are likely to be amended within a year to enable smooth-sailing for it professionals willing to work in Germany. Mr Huber agreed that visa restrictions were limiting the exchange of professionals and said the relaxations would be available only to it professionals. Currently, Bavaria and India are focussing on extending co-operation in information technology and media because of the visa restrictions but there were huge possibilities, Mr Huber said. Earlier, addressing a
CII meeting, Mr Huber praised India’s achievements in the field of software saying, “the computer revolution and liberalisation has established India as a major industrial centre in the world.’’ |
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ty
Is it the future of shopping? YOU WALK into the fourth-floor conference room. But instead of a shiny table and bored people, you find yourself in a shopper’s pleasure dome: brushed-steel racks display rows of purple leather skirts, stylish jumpers and slinky trousers; shoppers caress suede boots, tended all the while by highly trained sales staff. The lights are soft. Music plays. No, you’re not about to wake up: this is the next wave of workplace living - in-office shopping. As is generally the way with such things, it is already happening in New York. A magical combination of marketing genius and an urge for corporate ``team-building’’ last month brought Banana Republic, the US-based clothing company owned by Gap, into the offices of New York e-consulting firm Scient. Scient employees are far too busy to get to the shops, but they need casual work clothes. Banana Republic, purveyors of smart, unimaginative clothes to people who don’t want to stand out in a crowd, want customers. The logic is clear: if the customers can’t go to the shop, the shop must go to the customers. The clothier has sensed — quite rightly — that there is a market out there that is increasingly desperate for safe workwear that is not (God forbid!) a suit. For those given freedom to dress as they please at work, life is fraught with pitfalls. ``Business casual,’’ explains Cristina Gabriel of Banana Republic, “has lost its meaning. What to wear to work is a daily dilemma.’’ Scient was one of three companies picked to participate in this new retail enterprise. A place full of unappealing geeks in stained T-shirts, then? “Not at all,’’ insists Wendi Sturgis, Managing Director of operations at Scient’s New York office. “We’re not terrible dressers: we just appreciated the innovative idea. It was a lot of fun.’’ The retailer set up a temporary store inside Scient’s offices. Employees could browse through, try on and purchase a new but socially acceptable wardrobe. Of the company’s 300 employees, well over half participated. (With a 20 per cent discount, clothes delivered to your desk and free alterations, would you refuse?) Is this really the future of shopping for the busy worker? Certainly, with more and more companies allowing us to slip into something more comfortable, the need for ``smart casual’’ is greater than ever before. And those who are too busy to shop could probably do with a little help. However, if in-office clothes shopping does take off, the originality-killing spread of a smart-casual uniform becomes an even more likely prospect. And where’s the fun in that?
— Guardian Pak bar on
fashion shows KARACHI: The fundamentalist society of Pakistan has restricted recreation and entertainment facilities and fashion shows that are organised without any announcement to avoid outcry by religious parties. A number of fashion shows are organised in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Saher Ali is a college girl. She has been participating in fashion shows for one year but has so far failed to achieve a breakthrough because of lack of publicity. “There is no restriction in India, here we have problems and even then some move forward,” said Saher Ali. Those models who want to make any achievement in the field do overcome the problem. “It is not difficult to enter in the modelling field here. We have a lot of talent here,” she said. The opening of the window to satellite channels, the liberal use of dish antennae, has further infuriated the young girls and boys and they also make their debut particularly in showbiz. But religious restrictions and strict codes for dressings in the daily life and in modelling as well have left these enthusiasts nowhere. “It is a Muslim country, and they don’t like these things,” said Bushra Khan, another young model. A number of fashion shows have been either banned or disrupted in the past by fanatic religious groups opposed to so called vulgarity and western norms of life.
— ANI
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